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FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1908
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE
RHMFISS/CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
RHMFIUU/HQ USAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRL/USDAO BERLIN GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 BERLIN 001108 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MOPS PREL MARR NATO EUN GM AF SU KV BK LE GG ET
SUBJECT: German Out-Of-Area Deployment Update 
 
REF: A) Berlin 250 
 B) Berlin 620 
 C) Berlin 1045 
 
¶1. (SBU) As of July 30, Germany had 6,750 military personnel in 
out-of-area deployments (compared to 7000 in May), plus 2,500 on 
stand-by for the NATO Response Force (NRF) and an additional 1,000 
on stand-by for the EU's Battle Groups.  All armed military 
out-of-area (OOA) deployments, with the exception of those in 
support of UN observer missions, require parliamentary approval.  A 
2005 Deployment Law regulates the parliamentary process, allowing 
expedited procedures only for non-controversial deployments.  What 
follows is a brief run-down on Germany's current OOA deployments. 
(Note: OOA deployments are defined as deployments outside Germany's 
territory where the German military could become part of an armed 
conflict.  End Note.) 
 
------------------ 
The Deployment Law 
------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) According to a landmark 1994 Constitutional Court decision 
and a subsequent 2005 Deployment Law, the Bundestag must preapprove 
the deployment of any German armed forces outside of Germany.  The 
Deployment Law does provide for urgent armed deployments to go 
forward without the prior approval of the Bundestag, but most German 
officials view this exception as applicable only in the most exigent 
of circumstances, e.g. when there is literally no time to obtain 
Bundestag approval between the outbreak of a crisis and the need to 
respond militarily.  Even in these circumstances, the Deployment Law 
requires the government to seek Bundestag approval as soon as 
possible.  If approval is not granted, the deployment must be 
terminated. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  In a decision that is likely to make it even more 
cumbersome for the government to deploy German armed forces 
overseas, the German Constitutional Court ruled May 7 that the 
government's decision to allow German air crews to participate in 
the NATO AWACS mission in Turkey in 2003, on the eve of the war in 
Iraq, without first seeking approval of the Bundestag, was 
unconstitutional.  The Court dismissed the assertion of the 
then-Social Democratic/Green coalition government that the AWACS 
deployment was just a "routine," unarmed reconnaissance mission, 
holding that there were "tangible, factual indicators" that the 
German AWACS air crews could have been drawn into armed conflict. 
The Court reaffirmed the Bundeswehr as a "parliamentary army," 
underscoring that the German Basic Law (Constitution) "entrusted the 
decision about peace and war to the German Bundestag as the 
representative body of the people."  The Court emphasized that when 
in doubt about whether it is necessary to obtain Bundestag approval, 
the government should err on the side of seeking parliamentary 
permission. (See Ref B for further reporting and analysis on this 
Constitutional Court decision.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Bundeswehr currently has 3,520 military personnel 
(3,446 in May) operating under ISAF in Afghanistan.  These personnel 
are deployed under a one-year combined mandate approved by the 
Bundestag October 12, 2007.  This combined mandate includes the 
deployment of six Tornado reconnaissance aircraft, which were 
previously covered by a separate mandate.  Due to force rotation, 
Germany as of July 31 had more than the 3,500 soldiers authorized in 
Afghanistan; the mandate provides for temporarily exceeding the 
ceiling during troop rotations. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Germany has been active in ISAF since the operation's 
inception in January 2002, and was the first country to volunteer to 
lead an ISAF Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) outside of Kabul. 
Germany currently commands ISAF's northern region (RC-North), where 
it leads two of the five PRTs (Kunduz and Feyzabad) as well as the 
Forward Support Base in Mazar-E-Sharif.  On February 23, 2008 
Germany inaugurated a Provincial Advisory Team (PAT), a mini-PRT in 
Takhar province with around 50 civilian and military personnel 
total. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Bundeswehr has taken on, or has committed to take on, a 
number of additional tasks in recent months, which will soon bring 
it right up against the current troop ceiling of 3,500: 
 
-- Germany has taken over the Regional Command-North Quick Reaction 
 
BERLIN 00001108  002 OF 005 
 
 
Force (QRF) company on July 1.  This is the first time Germany has 
had a force (consisting of about 200 troops) that can be quickly 
deployed around the country on short notice and that is authorized 
to conduct combat missions.  This constitutes a significant new 
aspect of the Bundeswehr deployment in Afghanistan, whose forces up 
to now have been focused almost solely on stabilization and force 
protection missions.  German officials point out that the primary 
mission of the QRF is to respond to emergencies in RC-North, but 
they also have said that Germany will come to the aid of Allies 
(i.e., outside RC-North) when required.  Such exceptions are 
explicitly allowed by the ISAF mandate (see para 10 below). 
 
-- Germany is tripling the number of troops (from 100 to 300) 
devoted to the training of the Afghan National Army (ANA).  Besides 
fielding additional Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLTs), 
up to a total of seven, Germany also plans to expand a drivers and 
mechanics school in Kabul into a logisticians' training center, set 
up a combat engineering school in Kabul and establish an infantry 
training center in Mazar-e-Sharif. 
 
-- Germany has increased the number of military policemen devoted to 
the training of the Afghan National Police (ANP) in Mazar-e Sharif 
from 30 to 45. 
 
-- In the wake of numerous rocket attacks against PRT Kunduz, in 
February Germany deployed a company of 200 airborne infantry 
soldiers   to do regular patrolling in the immediate area around the 
PRT. 
 
¶7. (SBU) On June 26, DefMin Jung and German Chief of Defense Gen. 
Schneiderhan announced the intention to increase the troop ceiling. 
The troop ceiling increase is designed to create enough headroom and 
flexibility for the Bundeswehr to respond to an unexpected crisis. 
Political reactions to the announced increase were fairly moderate, 
although some speculated that the increase in the troop ceiling 
might hurt the state election prospects of Bavaria's Christian 
Social Union, which holds an absolute majority in the state 
parliament. 
 
¶8. (SBU) When the ISAF mandate comes up for renewal in October, the 
current expectation is that the government will seek a renewed 
mandate through December 2009, which would avoid the need to vote on 
a mandate in the heat of the campaign for the September 2009 
Bundestag election.  The new mandate will also include some language 
that puts the deployment of German radio operators in Kandahar on 
firm legal grounds. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Following COMISAF's request for NATO-AWACS for ISAF, there 
has been public discussion about whether Germany should support such 
a deployment.  (For further detail on the debate, see Berlin 1045). 
Depending on the status of discussions at NATO on the deployment of 
NATO AWACS aircraft to ISAF, the mandate could address deployment of 
German aircrews on NATO AWACS.  A decision on this has not been made 
yet by the German government. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Germany currently provides OMLTs for ANA maneuver 
battalions based in Kunduz and Feyzabad.  It also contributes to two 
multinational OMLTs -- one for the HQ of the 209th Corps and the 
other for the HQ of the 1st Brigade of the 209th Corps.  Both HQs 
are located in Mazar-E-Sharif.  Germany plans to contribute three 
additional OMLTs as a new ANA brigade (2nd Brigade, 209th Corps) and 
its subordinate battalions are fielded in the north over the next 
year.  Germany also plans to build garrisons for the new brigade in 
the north. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The German ISAF mandate defines their area of operations 
as the northern region and Kabul.  Nevertheless, an exception in the 
mandate allows for temporary, limited deployments to other parts of 
the country on a case-by-case basis if deemed "absolutely necessary" 
to the overall ISAF mission.  Case in point, German radio operators 
have provided communication support to Regional Command South in 
Kandahar for several months. 
 
¶12. (SBU) In the fall of 2007 and again in May 2008, DefMin Jung 
approved the temporary deployment of a small number of Bundeswehr 
soldiers outside the north to provide medical and intelligence 
support to combat operations against insurgents in Region West. 
None of the German soldiers, however, were directly involved in 
combat operations.  For the May 2008 operation, German members of 
the multinational OMLT for the 209th Corps HQ were part of a group 
authorized to deploy, the first time that German OMLT members were 
allowed to deploy outside the north (albeit for a Corps HQ and not a 
fighting unit).  MOD has thus far not allowed German OMLTs assigned 
 
BERLIN 00001108  003 OF 005 
 
 
to infantry ANA battalions to deploy outside the north. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Meanwhile, the ISAF mandate allows the Tornado 
reconnaissance aircraft to operate throughout Afghanistan, but 
restricts the resulting information from being distributed outside 
of ISAF channels.  The information can only be passed to OEF in 
instances where doing so directly supports ISAF operations.  Since 
the end of January 2008, Germany has provided an additional two 
C-160 Transall aircraft in Afghanistan to ISAF, for a total of 
eight. 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) The parliamentary mandate for OEF, which allows for the 
deployment of up to 1,400 personnel, expires on November 15. 
Currently, Germany has deployed 90 sailors (263 in May) and the 
Bundeswehr has P3-Orion Reconnaissance Aircraft stationed at the 
Horn of Africa.  At this point, Germany has no frigates under OEF 
operating around the Horn of Africa.  In June 2008 there was a 
controversial debate on whether German navy ships deployed under OEF 
have the authority to act against pirates.  Germany is currently 
considering support for an ESDP mission on the Horn of Africa that 
would act against pirates.  The structure of the ESDP mission 
remains unclear at this point. 
 
¶15. (SBU) The OEF mandate includes an authorization for the 
deployment of up to 100 German Special Forces (KSK) to Afghanistan. 
Reportedly, no KSK have been deployed to Afghanistan under OEF since 
2005, which led some politicians to question the utility of 
maintaining this part of the mandate during last fall's debate over 
its renewal.  The Afghanistan portion of the OEF has become a 
"virtual mandate," the main purpose of which is to demonstrate 
solidarity with the United States.  There is little parliamentary 
support for actually deploying the KSK to Afghanistan under OEF. 
 
 
¶16. (SBU) Despite parliamentary approval, OEF remains unpopular in 
Germany due to misperceptions of the mission as a strictly combat 
operation and its association with civilian casualties.  OEF is an 
especially divisive issue within the Social Democratic Party (SPD), 
the junior party in the Grand Coalition government.  Some 42 SPD 
parliamentarians -- about 20% of the caucus -- voted against 
extending the OEF mandate this past year.  While significantly 
higher than in 2006, when only 13 opposed OEF, the number of 
defections is significantly below what the SPD suffered in March 
2007, when 69 voted against the original deployment of Tornado 
reconnaissance aircraft to Afghanistan. 
 
¶17. (SBU) During the parliamentary debate on OEF, FM Steinmeier 
called for evaluating whether OEF could be mandated in the future 
through a UNSCR, rather than continuing to rely on the self-defense 
provisions of Article 51 of the UN Charter.  He also called for 
examining the possibility of transferring the ANA training mission 
from OEF to ISAF, thereby continuing the trend toward an ever larger 
ISAF and smaller OEF.  Finally, he proposed holding an international 
conference in the coming months to take stock of the progress made 
towards achieving the goals of the Afghanistan Compact. 
 
¶18. (SBU) Given the upcoming 2009 national parliamentary election 
and the fact that public support for the operation remains very low, 
renewal of the OEF mandate this coming fall could be difficult. 
Nonetheless, the government is still likely to seek renewal of the 
mandate, believing that failing to do so could send a negative 
signal about Germany's commitment to the fight against terrorism. 
On June 26, DefMin Jung announced that he intends to cut the OEF 
mandate by 600 military personnel, which would mean that only 800 
soldiers would be authorized after November 2008. 
 
------------------- 
Kosovo Force (KFOR) 
------------------- 
 
¶19. (SBU) Germany currently has 2,240 military personnel (compared 
to 2,645 in May) in KFOR, far below the authorized troop ceiling of 
8,500 military personnel.  There is a German Operational Reserve 
Force (ORF) battalion on stand-by in Germany to reinforce KFOR as 
necessary.   The mandate is extended automatically each year unless 
there is a change to the UNSC Resolution framework for the Kosovo 
Force.  Germany formally recognized Kosovo's independence on 
February 20 in a letter from President Koehler.  The government made 
 
BERLIN 00001108  004 OF 005 
 
 
clear that it still considers UNSCR 1244 as the legal basis for 
KFOR, a position that all parties in the Bundestag, except the small 
Left Party (roughly 12% support nationally), support. 
 
----------------------------------- 
European Union Force (EUFOR) Bosnia 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶20. (SBU) Germany currently has around 130 soldiers (same as in May) 
in Bosnia as part of the EU's Operation ALTHEA.  Most of the German 
soldiers are deployed as liaison and observer teams.  The mandate, 
amended December 1, allows the deployment of up to 2,400 military 
personnel.  This operation extends automatically unless there is a 
change to its underlying UNSC resolution.  In 2007, Germany reduced 
its military presence in Bosnia by more than 700 military personnel 
in coordination with other allies.  Germany is relying more on 
home-based reserve forces and less on deployed troops to provide the 
necessary security support for the implementation of reform measures 
mandated by the Dayton Peace agreement. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶21. (SBU) Since March 2008, Germany no longer leads UNIFIL's naval 
component, but still has 460 military personnel deployed (compared 
to 464 in May).  The current mandate, authorizing up to 1,400 
military personnel, expires on September 12.  On February 29, 
Germany handed over the command of UNIFIL's naval component to 
EUROMARFOR, a joint, non-permanent fleet including Portugal, Spain, 
France and Italy.  An Italian officer assumed command. 
 
------------------------ 
Sudan (UNAMID and UNMIS) 
------------------------ 
 
¶22. (SBU) Germany currently has 39 military observers taking part in 
the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).  These observers monitor the 
implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.  The parliament 
imposed a caveat barring military observers from going to Darfur 
without prior consultation with the Bundestag Foreign Relations 
Committee's chairman and ranking members.  The mandate, which was 
extended for an additional year on November 15, 2007, allows for the 
participation of up to 75 German military observers. 
 
¶23. (SBU) Replacing its old AMIS mandate, the Bundestag approved a 
new mandate in support of the UN/AU hybrid mission in Darfur (UN 
Assistance Mission in Darfur, UNAMID) on November 15.  It authorizes 
the Bundeswehr to deploy transport aircraft and up to 200 troops in 
support of the UN/AU hybrid mission. 
 
---------------- 
Georgia (UNOMIG) 
---------------- 
 
¶24. (SBU) Germany has been part of the UN Observer Mission in the 
Abkhazian region of Georgia (UNOMIG) since 1998 and currently has 12 
personnel stationed there, most of whom are medical personnel and 
military observers.  To meet a UN request for additional medical 
personnel, the German cabinet decided last August to raise the 
personnel ceiling for this mission from 13 to 20.  Despite the 
conflict currently raging in Georgia, German observers are 
remaining. 
 
----------------------- 
Other minor deployments 
----------------------- 
 
¶25. (SBU) One military observer serves in the United Nations Mission 
in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).  One German military observer is 
seconded to the United Nation Assistance Mission in Afghanistan 
(UNAMA).  The Bundeswehr has seconded 41 military personnel to 
Strategic Medical Evacuation (STRATAIRMEDEVAC), for which no 
parliamentary mandate is required, since it is not an armed 
deployment and the stand-by aircraft are stationed in Germany. 
 
----------------------- 
Other force commitments 
----------------------- 
 
¶26. (SBU) The Bundeswehr currently has 2,500 soldiers committed for 
the twelfth rotation of the NATO Response Force (NRF).  There are 
currently 1,000 Bundeswehr soldiers assigned to EU Battle Groups in 
 
BERLIN 00001108  005 OF 005 
 
 
the second half of 2008. 
 
------------------------- 
Bundeswehr transformation 
------------------------- 
 
¶27. (SBU) The Bundeswehr is currently undergoing a transformation 
process, the goal of which is to be able to send up to 14,000 
soldiers to as many as five different theaters for stabilization 
missions by 2010.  The Bundeswehr will be reduced from its 
pre-transformation level of 270,000 to a final strength of 250,000 
(162,300 Army, 62,700 Air Force and 25,000 Navy).  The new 
Bundeswehr will be composed of three different groups: 35,000 for 
intervention forces, 70,000 for stabilization forces and 147,000 for 
support forces.  Part of the Bundeswehr's transformation is a 
comprehensive rebasing program, which is also intended to be 
completed by 2010.  Moreover, transformation includes the 
procurement of new equipment to fill capability gaps, mainly in the 
fields of strategic air lift, network centric warfare and armored 
vehicles.  Due to limited funding (Germany spends just 1.3 percent 
of its GDP on defense, with few prospects of significant increases 
in the future) and defense industry delays (mainly EADS), the 
equipment side of the transformation is behind schedule.